Always and Forever
by Kato Chinatsu
Summary: I can sacrifice a billion lives if that is the price that I have to pay in order to be with you. This process will repeat again and again until we come to that point where we could die together. Don't worry... I will always stay by your side. Not even death could do us part. Always and Forever.


**Kato:** I made this solely for the lovely **_Roselilia_** and she has already seen this. I was planning to just have this just posted on Facebook but she encouraged me to share this to all of you. Thus, here you all go. :)

**Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basket solely belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi**

**********Respective links to my Tumblr and Facebook are now included to my profile info.**

**Accepting fic requests for AkaKuro Week. Please send your requests via pm and await for confirmation. Thank you!**

* * *

**_Always and Forever_**

* * *

_Always and Forever, there would be none but you._

_In these ill-natured dimensions of a nauseating transition in time..._

_I seek out your soul and drag it to a new world, taking chances of coexisting as we once did._

* * *

_**Hey... You would not forget me, would you?**_

* * *

_20th of December._

* * *

The soft sound of bells tinkling from a distance awoke a seemingly eternal slumber, heavy fluttering lids gradually paving way to accommodate dull powder-blue orbs. Beholding before the angelic creature was a flurry of crystalline snowflakes cascading slowly from above, prickling slowly onto the smooth expanse of the porcelain white skin of divine and delicate features. Nimble gloved fingers shakily clutched globs of snow, compressing them finely by a mere second before sharply releasing them with the accompaniment of a sharp gasp. Alluring orbs flickered about in an alarmed demeanor as the petite frame struggled to sit up from his cold makeshift bed of snow. Nothing registered of his mind at that particular moment, not even the sensation of snow melting against his skin and sliding inside his clothed form, but a simple realization.

He knew nothing of his self but his name.

He was holding onto nothing but a mere name that was left upon his mind. Nothing existed beyond that. No fragments of recollection on how he ended up in his current state or even a sliver of the supposed life he was to be living. He had utterly nothing but a name... and a sensation of indescribable hollowness nauseatingly spreading along his chest.

There was an unexplainable hollow void right upon his chest, leaving him in desperation to take lungsful of sharp chilly air that prickled along the slender length of his throat. As if something had been forcefully ripped out of his system, leaving a huge gaping hole and excruciating, exquisite pain. Without that entity, functioning to live was... in a sense... meaningless. Without a fragment of his memory, there was nothing to grasp onto firmly to identify the hollowness in his chest. Without a fragment of his memory, he had no concrete point where to start off. With just an identity hanging by a mere thread atop his head, the concept of his existence was... non-existent.

Observant powder-blue eyes fleetingly glanced along his environment, finding that civilization was not far from where he was resting upon the cluster of snow-covered trees... somehow, which he found quite eerie in a sense. _Where am I? How did I get here? What is happening? _were only a few of the dozens of questions plaguing his mind.

_Why am I all alone...? _

Curling into a small ball, he rested his forehead upon his raised knees, his hands firmly pressed against his heaving chest.

_**We have always been each other's entire world. Do you know that?**_

A surge of unexplainable warmth wound around his chest, as if someone was embracing him tenderly from his seated position. A faint velvet voice murmured in a hushed whisper directly onto the crevice of his ear, uttering such endearing foreign words. There was no physical embodiment along the vicinity but the velvet voice rang clear in his mind... as well as an odd sense of familiarity.

As if he had known the possessor of the voice all his life.

"I cannot remember anything," he spoke up softly despite having no reassurance that the voice was not a product of his current state of mind. "... Why aren't you here with me?"

_Who are you?_

_**I'm always with you. But you cannot see me yet. Unless this is our world, I cannot be with you.**_

Shakily wrapping gloved hands around his chest to protect him from the cold, he shifted dull eyes to the ethereal scenery from above. The warmth around his chest did not elevate, but the sadness that crept along its expanse paved way for the coldness to seep through his skin and embed upon his heart. Though that voice may just be a figment of his imagination, sub-consciousness, or even hallucination... Unless this was 'their world', that voice would just be an intangible presence to his being. Their world…

_I don't want to be alone..._

_**Don't stay out in this cold. Someone from this world is bound to know you. Go… I will always be with you.**_

_I want to meet you…_

Hanging onto the suggested course of action, he stumbled forward whilst listening attentively to the sweet tinkling of bell chimes to guide him forth from where he was. That... and the subtle force that was pulling him forth to the unknown.

* * *

_Benevolence: Crimson_

* * *

_20th of December_

_In this cruel and nauseating transition of time enclosed in an endless series of parallel dimensions unbeknownst to man, a flare of benevolent crimson ignited, providing guidance to the twisted path ahead._

_This was not the right world._

* * *

1st Transition in Time

* * *

_**Ah... This is not our world.**_

"Hey, Kuroko. Are you feeling alright?"

Kagami Taiga was the name of his companion in this world. A man exuding benevolence and of a kind-nature, there was no hesitance on the bluenette's heart to thaw up to said trustworthy individual. It was he who found the bluenette roaming aimlessly about the streets, and brought him back safely to what was supposed to be the shorter male's residence. Utter lack of furniture, thoroughly observed cleanliness... the place was neatly kept and organized; something the shorter male found oddly satisfying and befitting of his own nature.

Should there be anything that stood out far more prominently than anything else, that would have to be the twin grand bookshelves aligned near a glass double-door that led to a decently small balcony. From that alone, assuming that he had a certain passion to book indulgence was acceptable and plausible. Before he knew it himself, he strode off towards the shelves with mild curiosity, fingertips brushing along the spines of each biographical texts, and thick novels with a wide array of genres.

_**Back then, you have always immersed yourself in reading different texts. Admiring you relentlessly over a distance was always easy.**_

"Kuroko?" Kagami called the bluenette, snapping him from his reverie and earning his full attention. "Are you feeling well?"

Kuroko dropped his raised hand to the side, nodding in response to the male's query. A small apologetic bow of his head was offered in response, along with a ghost of a smile out of gratitude.

"Thank you for bringing me home... Kagami-kun," he answered slowly as he had forgotten the male's name for a moment. "I am just... tired."

"I'll cook something for you," the redhead was already heading towards what Kuroko assumed was his kitchen. "Just lie down in bed for a moment."

Kuroko followed suit, a protest resting upon his tongue.

"There is no need. I can manage on my own."

Kagami sharply turned on his heel, facing the frowning bluenette for a mere few seconds before he leaned forward, pressing a light kiss to the cold skin of his forehead. A small growl rang clearly on Kuroko's head as Kagami pulled him close, encompassing his frame in a loving and comforting embrace.

"What kind of boyfriend am I if I can't take care of the one I love?" Kagami asked rhetorically, ruffling the powder-blue locks affectionately before completely releasing the male.

Right... In this world, he was with Kagami Taiga. Not with... Not with the owner of that velvet voice.

_**Akashi Seijuuro.**_

"What?" he did not mean to blurt that out loud, but it just escaped his chapped parted lips.

_**My name is Akashi Seijuuro. It would make it easier for you to address to me as such.**_

"Just rest, alright? Go lie down on your bed and I will prepare you a meal," Kagami suggested, ushering the male out of the small kitchen.

Kuroko did so quite blindly as he paid his surroundings no heed, his full attention on someone else.

"Akashi...-kun, then. You said before... that we cannot be in a world that is not ours. What do you mean?" Kuroko asked in a hushed inaudible whisper as he paced back towards the small room where a single pure white bed rested against the wall.

_**We are both trapped in a transition of time. The 20th of December, to be precise. I cannot explain it fully to you. Perhaps... when the clock strikes midnight, you will know fully.**_

Despite not having a full comprehension on the situation, he understood the gist of it: he was trapped to live the 20th of December repetitively. Was it some sort of punishment or curse bestowed to him upon the deities? Or was there some form of reasoning as to his current situation?

Without making as much as a sound, he approached the twin bookshelves once again, plucking a random book from it before slowly flipping through the pages, his eyes merely skimming through its content. Interest was clearly absent from his face, perhaps due to the subconscious realization in his mind that he was well aware of the context of each and every literary piece placed upon his bookshelves.

Indeed, he was. But he could not describe each and every piece in such a detailed manner. His mind lingered to... Akashi's previous statement, wondering aloud what it was supposed to mean or the purpose behind it all.

"Why am I going through this time loop? Why... the 20th of December?"

_**... Second chances. We humans believe in second chances.**_

_Second chances...?_

_**...I couldn't stop loving you.**_

"Hey, I thought I told you to rest?"

A pair of arms wrapped around his waist from the back, partially startling him and inciting another growl. Kagami rested his chin atop Kuroko's shoulder, peering at his pale features from the side with a soft hum.

"Looking for a book?"

"Not really," Kuroko answered.

"You really have an odd way of arranging your stuff, you know that?" Kagami asked rhetorically, pulling away from the smaller male to crouch down by the shelves. "You're the only person I know of that would compile photo albums on a book shelf as well."

"Can you... Can you hand me one? Just any one would do..." Kuroko asked politely.

Humming to himself, Kagami plucked out a thick taupe-colored album, brushing off the thin layer of dust that rested upon the surface of it before handing it to the bluenette. Sitting upon the small bed with sheer curiosity etched upon his features, he flipped the album open, staring intently at the very first picture on the front page.

_**This is...**_

_December 20th: Anniversary_

"I remember that picture," Kagami spoke up quietly from the side, his frame leaning against the bookshelves. "That was taken at the plaza on the day that you finally said yes."

"But..." he whispered inaudibly, brushing a finger against the surface of the photo, a wave of emptiness creeping in his system.

_This picture feels wrong._

A small teardrop managed to escape past his downcast powder-blue eyes, rolling down along his left cheek before dripping off his chin. In his heart, he knew that this picture was wrong despite how it was being conveyed to him. It was wrong because it was not supposed to be that way.

_**Time is replacing my existence in your life.**_

* * *

_Exuberance : Cobalt_

* * *

_20th of December_

_In this cruel and nauseating transition of time enclosed in an endless series of parallel dimensions unbeknownst to man, a dash of exuberant entity was my companion._

_This was not the right world._

* * *

2nd Transition in Time

* * *

_**Would you like to be with me once again?**_

A massive crowd of young women flocked over a tall tanned bluenette of short, spiky cobalt-blue hair and equally sharp cobalt-blue eyes. There was nothing... absolutely bedazzling of the male, in Kuroko's perspective. It was given that he had a well-built and balanced form, and equally good looks to match, but the male was anything but perfect in Kuroko's definition of the word. Aomine Daiki was quite a flirtatious and downright playboy, as far as what the smaller bluenette could see. Despite being in a relationship with him in that world, the women were not deterred with that fact. Instead, it drove then to be hostile towards him.

That aside, regarding the matter of being in another world...

"I can remember Kagami-kun..."

_**Your memory will remain intact. Eventually... some will return to you.**_

_Why only some?_

"Yo, Tetsu!"

Said male sharply turned to face the person who called upon his name, only to be pulled flush against a muscular frame of a certain famous tanned male. Annoyed whines and menacing hisses could be vaguely heard from their back at the sudden intimate gesture.

"You've kept me waiting. Where have you been?" Aomine asked, pressing a lingering kiss on pale lips without as much a thought of where they were.

A scandalous blush painted over the smaller bluenette's cheeks at such daring gesture, but he immediately willed it down with his usual nonchalance. He paid no heed to the hisses behind them as well as on his head as he calmly spoke.

"I have been here the entire time. Aomine-kun was just preoccupied with his... admirers."

"Do I hear jealousy on your voice?" Aomine teased, leaning down once again to place a kiss on the bluenette's lips.

"Absolutely not," Kuroko pushed the male away before he could even plant a kiss to his lips, causing the male to give a small annoyed pout.

_**Time is replacing my existence.**_

As the tanned male effectively dispersed the women crowding all over him, Kuroko simply stood by the side whilst watching the man quietly.

Just as with the previous world, the scene before him was all so wrong. Despite the naturalistic environment, there was but one thing that always stood out as a mistake. He could not place a name on the cause of it, may it be an ideology that had been firmly ingrained in his mind or what not, but he was definitely sure...

_Just because it isn't you, the whole picture becomes wrong._

He knew not if his face. He knew not of his life with him. But he was sure... If this Akashi Seijuuro was his companion, then he would finally feel complete. Not this hollowness in his heart at that very moment.

"Hey, Tetsu. Are you feeling alright? Are you hurt somewhere?" Aomine inquired, frowning when he sensed unease from the shorter male.

_No... I am not fine._

"I'm fine," he lied through his teeth, but the usual nonchalant expression upon his features masked that completely.

_**Everyday, I am being killed on both ends. But I'm willing to endure them if that means that you can be with me again.**_

* * *

_Eccentricity: Emerald_

* * *

_20th of December_

_In this cruel and nauseating transition of time enclosed in an endless series of parallel dimensions unbeknownst to man, the eccentric emerald entity was mine to cherish. I have lived past two, and I have come to ask... Is there a reason for me to travel through this repetitive transition of time? Time was mocking me with my inability of moving forward. Little did it know I was being held back._

_Again, this was not the right world._

* * *

3rd Transition in Time

* * *

_**Can you hang on just a little bit more?**_

"Midorima-kun, do you believe in fate?"

A bespectacled man sporting a neatly styled emerald-green hair, going by the name of Midorima Shintarou, was his companion on that world. The man has a form of an eccentric knack over science and anything that goes by it. Thinking about it, it was quite unusual how they were even together, much less compatible for each other.

"Fate? That's ridiculous," Midorima stated, looking at the bluenette from underneath his lashes before directing his attention to the computer screen once again. "Everything in life is determined by our course of action."

"What about... the existence of parallel dimensions?" Kuroko continued, causing the male to look up once again from his work.

With an almost inaudible sigh, Midorima stood up from his seat and strode over to where the bluenette , taking his seat on the sleek black leather couch, he crossed his legs over each other before finally speaking up.

"That is possible, but has not been proven yet," he stared intently at the bluenette as he spoke. "Parallel dimensions are believed to exist based solely upon human decisions. Each dimension is altered by each decision, making every dimension uniquely its own. Parallel dimensions could exist, but the probability of them coinciding... being the same in context is but one to a billion."

"Which means every world is different from one another. Always," Kuroko finished, looking thoughtfully at the carpeted floor.

"Just as you are different from the Kuroko in this world."

At that statement, he immediately raised startled powder-blue eyes to meet calm and speculative twin emeralds. The question already rested upon the tip of his tongue, but was left unsaid.

"You aren't from this world, are you?" Midorima blurted out, his own voice laced with uncertainty himself.

It was an absurd thought after all. But then again... Everything in the context of science has been long absurd. A confirmation to his assumption from the bluenette would not surprise him by now.

And that was granted with a curt nod.

"How did you know...?" Kuroko asked in a quiet, timid voice, carefully making a glance to the male's direction.

"You two may bear the same face... Speak in the same pattern... Have the same life in general, but there is just something about _my _Kuroko that even you cannot copy," Midorima stated, removing his glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. "For one, he never made an effort to take interest on science. Also... he would not make this effort of being with me _especially _since we argued the day before."

"Don't you feel conceited, taking the life of someone else even though it's yours?" Midorima asked bluntly.

_It was never my choice from the beginning..._

Without so much as a thought, he raised his feet from the floor, bringing them up to the couch as he curled his arms over his knees, his eyes becoming vacant and distant.

"It was not my choice," Kuroko answered softly, curling up further.

"Everyday, I pass through a world without knowing the reason why. I wish for nothing but for this to stop... but he won't let me..."

"He?"

"The person who has been dragging me from one world to another," Kuroko explained briefly. "He would not tell me the reason why. _I could not stop loving you... _were the only words that made much of a sense."

Midorima stared thoughtfully at the bluenette for a few seconds, carefully weighing the value of the male's words.

"Did it not occur to you that you weren't supposed to exist ever since you started travelling through the different dimensions?"

_**Don't listen to him.**_

Kuroko ignored the voice in his head, taking into full consideration Midorima's words. He merely faced the male with a slight tilt of his head, urging for him to continue as he did not fully understand his words.

"I am only saying this out of theory, but... Maybe he has been taking you to different worlds because, in the first place, you could not be with him anymore? In your world, it could be that you are already dead."

_**...**_

"That is... absurd..."

"You've been travelling through dimensions and you find that absurd?" A perfect brow was arched in response to the bluenette's disbelief.

"In your world, you are dead."

_**Don't listen to him. Please...**_

* * *

_Possession: Raw Sienna_

* * *

_20th of December_

_In this cruel and nauseating transition of time enclosed in an endless series of parallel dimensions unbeknownst to man, the possessive entity of raw siena was my companion. Something was not right. He was supposed to be my companion here. So... Why is he locking me up? Please... Let me go. I want to move forth._

_This was not the right world._

* * *

4th Transition in Time

* * *

_**How can I move on when I'm still in love with you?**_

In this world, he was nothing more than a prisoner of a mad man. With each deafening tick from the wall clock, the dread residing upon his chest increased relentlessly, suffocating him with its intensity. Curled up in a fetal position, his dull eyes were blindly fixated on the steel bars caging him from all corners.

In this world, he fell in love with the possessive mad man. With every protest that escaped from his lips, a pair of hands would constrict against his throat to cut off his breathing. His powder-blue eyes would always flicker frantically every single time but that too would be ignored by the crooning man who vowed to protect him from any harm, neglecting the reality that, on the brink of insanity, he himself was the threat. Dozens of bruises marred his once flawless and pale skin. Beaten up. Defiled.

He was being treated like an animal; a mere lowly beast.

_Please... No more..._

A droplet of tear befell from one of his dull eyes as he shifted upon his position, feeling his bones snap and ache in obvious pain.

_I want to die..._

_**You can't die. Please live for me.**_

_I don't want this anymore. Please..._

_**I'm sorry. I can't grant your wish this time.**_

_I already died once, didn't I?_

A sharp rap against the steel bars caused his dull eyes to shift up, meeting a pair of raw sienna orbs. He forced the nauseous feeling bubbling up his stomach to subside by looking away from those golden irises. Disgust. The mere sight of the male disgusted him.

"Kurokochii! Are you hungry?"

_It would be so easy to kill myself._

"Kurokochii? Are you feeling unwell? Do you want to use the bathroom?"

_**Please... don't. Live for me.**_

In response to the blond male's inquiry, he gave a short bob of his head before shakily sitting up. Beads of perspiration framed the length of his neck and his nape due to the exertion of what the male had put him through. Noticing how sickly pale his skin was, the blond male immediately opened the cage, pulling the male swiftly out. The sudden movement caused the bluenette to spill what little content he had in his stomach, his trembling body heaving thereafter.

"Stay here. I will go get you a drink."

Standing up from his position, Kise slowly made his way to the kitchen and began fumbling around.

The front door was locked tightly shut, making escape through it absolutely impossible. Without as much as a thought of his course of action, Kuroko wobbly stood up from his position and stumbled towards the doors to the balcony, sharply opening the door and allowing for the cold pitter-patter of the rain to soak through the thin clothing of his attire. With quick steps, he made his way over to the balcony and sharply clutched onto the low railings.

_**Don't. Please, Tetsuya... Don't do this.**_

_How can you stand to encourage me to live when I am being destroyed like this?_

"Kurokochii? What are you doing out there?" Kise called from inside, his frame rigid.

Just by looking at the dead look on those powder-blue orbs that longingly looked at the ground below, he could already decipher what was going through the bluenette's head.

_It would be so easy... To kill myself like this._

"Kurokochii... Don't jump," Kise warned in a low voice, staying in his spot with the knowledge that any sudden movement could force his beloved to jump of the balcony.

_**Because I want you to exist.**_

"No. I don't want this anymore..." Kuroko breathed almost inaudibly due to the heavy rain.

Defiled.

Unclean.

A piece of meat.

_I'm sorry._

_**DON'T!**_

With a sharp intake of breath, he hoisted his body off the balcony, welcoming the gust of wind that valiantly tried to push him away from the ground. With a deafening and sickening crack, his body crashed against the solid surface of the pavement. Pain registered excruciatingly from his head, but that was easily ignored by the impending sense of freedom from being trapped in a twisted time loop.

_**Why...**_

A small smile managed to grace past his lips as his almost lifeless eyes bore onto horrified raw sienna. For once since he had been travelling through various worlds, he felt utterly... Complete.

_Because I could not wait for you._

* * *

_In this cruel and nauseating transition of time enclosed in an endless series of parallel dimensions unbeknownst to man, I was trapped. _

* * *

_Passion: Red_

* * *

_**Finally, we can be together again. This time, it would be forever**__._

* * *

...th Transition in Time

* * *

_**A creature asked me once... In my moment of despair and absolute loss... If I wish to be with you once again. Without so much as a thought of it, I grabbed the opportunity without the care for its consequences.**_

_**That creature was the keeper of time.**_

He had lost count of the number of worlds he had been to. He thought that if he had killed himself, everything would be over. Time would flow forward once again despite his non-existence. But... He was wrong.

_**20th of December. Don't you remember? It is the day of my birth. It is the day of your death.**_

The following day, he was back in the same apartment with a different person. Then the next... And the next... He had not bothered to count how many he had been to. He still moved respectively from one world to another, but the voice in his head was gone.

He did not bother to move. He did not bother to live. With vacant powder-blue hues, he stared quietly at the male before him.

_**You see, you died in our world. But it was not meant to be. Travelling through those worlds just to be with you once again cost a hefty price.**_

"I'm finally with you now..." was the hushed murmur from the male above him.

_**I had to take all of "you" away from your companions in those worlds. I had to sacrifice all of "you" in order to be with you.**_

"Please... Let time flow forward..."

_**But that's alright. At least we're together now. And they won't have a grasp of you again.**_

Fresh tears overflowed once again from his swollen powder-blue eyes, cascading down the pale skin of his cheeks. The repetitive transition of living through a single day with no hope of moving forward was so very maddening.

"It will flow forward from now on. We're together now. That was all that it took," Akashi assured him as he cradled Kuroko's head lovingly against his chest.

_**You've died once.**_

"With every single day that you lived through with someone else was another wasted world. I apologize for the many times that you have been hurt by countless few. It will never happen again," Akashi assured him as he brushed his lips against his temple.

_**And you surely will die again.**_

He hummed a soft loving tune to lull the quiet bluenette to rest, but Kuroko fought off the urge to close his eyes once again.

_**I can sacrifice a billion lives if that is the price that I have to pay in order to be with you always and forever.**_

"Go to sleep. I won't leave your side once again," Akashi cooed to one of his ears.

_**This process will repeat again and again until we come to that point where we could die together.**_

The gentle caresses to his face and the soothing brushes against his locks gradually forced him succumb to sleep despite his attempt to keep himself awake.

_It's best to pretend that everything is fine._

_**Don't worry. I will always stay by your side. Not even death could do us part.**_

_But I could hear their cries on my head..._

_**Always and Forever.**_

* * *

_End_

* * *

Thank you for reading!


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